Tony Vick

    Tony has served almost three decades of a life sentence in Tennessee. He is the author of two books, Secrets From a Prison Cell (Cascade Books, 2018) and Locked In and Locked Out (Resource Publications, 2023). His writing has also been published at Solitary Watch, the Progressive, Truthout, Shado and in multiple books and anthologies, the most recent of which is Storms of the Inland Sea (Shanti Arts, 2022). His Filter story about CoreCivic medical care won “Best News” at the 2025 Stillwater Prison Journalism Awards. You can reach him by USPS.

    Tony Vick #276187
    South Central Correctional Facility
    PO Box 279
    Clifton, TN 38425-0279

    A Death Row Pastor’s View of Executions

    From 2010 to 2015 I was incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, ...

    Some Thoughts on Dying in Prison

    Over the course of my nearly 30 years in Tennessee Department of Correction custody, ...

    Everyone in Prison Needs a Hustle. For a Small Fee, I’ll Help You Find Yours.

    When you enter the men’s prison system in Tennessee, you receive two blue, smock-like ...

    Veterans in Prison, Cut Off From Support, Try to Make It on Their Own

    C*, a 39-year-old Army veteran, struggled to adjust to daily life after coming home ...

    When the Prison Grievance Process Is Worth the Risk

    For nearly three decades, I’ve been hearing people scream for help. Screams of people ...

    To See the US Prisons Crisis, Look at the Books We’re Trying to Read

    The library at South Central Correctional Facility, a Tennessee prison privately operated by CoreCivic, ...

    “A Moral Crime”: 22 Years in Solitary, and the Prison System That Watched

    At age 18, Frank De Palma entered Nevada Department of Corrections custody on a ...

    How Prison Guard Became the Job Everyone Leaves

    Lonnie, in his late 40s, was a high school teacher for 20 years before ...

    Watching the Trump Trials in Prison, With Con Artists Cheering Him On

    Our living unit at South Central Correctional Facility in Tennessee doesn’t have a communal ...

    How We Still Find Joy After Decades in Prison

    After nearly 30 years in prison, I still find moments of joy and happiness. ...